Sparky opened up about his hatred for the rising sun.

“The Japanese are inscrutable.  They just sit there, looking dead, but when I try to sniff them, they flutter and buzz.  That’s how they trick you.”

What are you talking about?  Now you hate the Japanese?  It took weeks to establish that you weren’t racist against Black folks.

“That’s not my fault.  Maurice did look like a bear.  The Japanese are different.  They have those stupid red eyes that look like they were glued on crooked.”

You mean these things?

Those are cicadas.  They aren’t Japanese.

“They still look retarded.  I got them mixed up with those Japanese bugs.”

You glare at the rising sun because you hate Japanese beetles?

“What’s that?”

That’s a Japanese beetle.  The thing you hate so much, you condemn a whole country.

“Oh.   No, I hate those bugs that walk real slow and taste terrible.”

You ate a stink bug once, and didn’t enjoy it at all.  They look like this.

“Yeah, those things.  It’s called a stink bug?” 

Yup.

“Weird.  Usually when something stinks, it’s probably going to taste good.  Like that rabbit leg I found by the creek.”

Whatever.  Are you clear?  Stink bugs are nasty, you can probably eat a cicada and I doubt that you’ve ever met a Japanese beetle.

“What do Japanese beetles taste like?”

I don’t know, but if they taste bad, you still can’t hate the Japanese.  Remember that movie we watched where that Japanese kid went to Garbage Island to save his dog?  You liked that.

“Oh yeah.  He was a good boy.  Japan must be nice.  Do they really have an Isle of Dogs and a Garbage Island?”

Yeah, sure.  Probably.  And don’t forget that you’re a ninja, and ninjas are from Japan.

“Can I glare at the rising sun in admiration for the elegant and disciplined Japanese and to contemplate my ninja vows?”

Can’t you just be a regular, non-racist, beagle and go back to chasing rabbits?